Gone
by Dunno12345
Summary: Caroline cannot deal with her mother's death and in result, switches her humanity off. Transforming into someone with no control and no conscience, she refuses to return to herself. That is, until someone else decides to pick up the task and try his luck. (Klaroline)
1. Summary

**Okay, so this is not a new story of mine. I wrote this about a year-ish ago and decided to post it here because, eh, why not? Takes place right after Caroline's mom dies, and is purely Klaroline.**

 **Summary:**

 **Caroline cannot deal with her mother's death and in result, makes the decision to switch her humanity off. Transforming into the very kind of person she would have hated, she has no desire to turn her emotions back on. But someone else picks up the task, whether out of love for the woman he cares for or the hope that in saving her, he can save a piece of himself as well, he will go to whatever lengths it takes.**

 **But then again, maybe being lost himself is the very reason Klaus will be the one to bring her back.**

 **All characters belong to CW productions. Only the story material is mine.**


	2. Caving In

I knew when she was dead. I heard her heart stop, that last drifting shudder before it stilled. Then nothing. There was just the distant echo of the flat-lining machine that just kept going and going and going. It was only when I realized that it wouldn't stop when reality crashed over me, bringing with it an awful silence.

My mom was gone.

I understood that, but it still took me a few minutes to accept it, to feel the word _gone_ widening inside me like something had just punched its way through my chest. Then I was curling in on myself, screaming into my hands. Wishing myself back, because how could this be real? How? I couldn't survive this. I couldn't. I didn't have the strength.

Arms wrapped around me then, and I gave into Stefan, allowing myself to break. Was this the price given to those for cheating death? We could avoid it ourselves, but we're still forced to drown in it? To be surrounded by the death of loved ones?

I didn't want that. I'd rather have died.

Stefan's hold tightened but it didn't help keep the pieces of me together and I finally pushed away, desperate to do something. Anything.

"I have to...I have to get out of here," I said through my tears. But where could I go? I couldn't outrun the truth. Vampire or not.

"Caroline," Stefan began. "You're in pain. You have to give yourself the time to grieve."

But I shook my head. No. No. No. _No._ "I don't-I didn't want this!" I picked up a nearby vase, full of the flowers my mom loved, and sent it against the wall. It shattered, raining across the hospital floor like jewels. "She didn't deserve this! Why did it happen to her? Why, Stefan? Moms are supposed to-to be there for your wedding. They're supposed to help you choose your dress and give you relationship advice. They're supposed to be the first one to sit with you in your new house and tell you what furniture should go where." I was ranting, I knew, but I couldn't stop. "They're the ones that call you and ask you if you want to get mani-pedis on Fridays and drive over to watch old movies on 're not supposed to just _die_ before you get a chance to do any of that!"

I threw something else. I didn't even look to see what it was, but I heard it smash.

"Calm down, Caroline," Stefan said, suddenly in front of me. "I know it's hard, but you have to-"

"No!" I shouted at him, fury blooming inside me. I was a storm inside, raging and crashing and burning and destroying. I had no control now; never had any control over anything. It was just a lie. All a stupid, delusional lie. "Don't tell me what I have to do. What I have to do, is get out of here. I _hate_ this place."

One more thing hit the wall.

"I hate this room. I hate these sterile, ugly sheets. I hate the patterns and the window in the door that you only use to peek in on the dying. I hate it all!"

I clutched my head, at the emotional pain that gave way to the physical, every thought about my mom sending irreparable spikes of pain to my heart.

"Caroline, shh." Stefan soothed, his hands covering my own. "Shh. Breathe."

But I couldn't. "Make it stop," I begged him. "Please."

"I can't do that," he said, looking into my eyes. "You have to reel it in. Focus on something small. The grief is overbearing to you."

I squeezed my eyes shut. "It's not working. I can't focus on anything. She's dead, Stefan." I said it. Out loud. The pain intensified. "She's dead and I couldn't save her. She's gone." A thousand images ran through my mind. "My father. My mother. I'm an orphan now."

Stefan shook his head. "You have to stop focusing on that. Focus on the love your mother had for you. She loved you and wants you happy. She wanted you to move on."

But I flinched at his words. "I can't. I can't. They're dead. I couldn't help either of them. I couldn't help those that mattered to me."

More images. More guilt. More useless wishes that made me think of all the things I could have had but now never would. I clutched my head tighter. This needed to stop. The pain. It was too much; too much for me.

And I could turn it off.

That thought sent a jolt through me and I felt it, like a secret switch, revealed by the pain; when I realized I wanted it.

"I need it off." My words were a whisper, but I saw the realization register in Stefan's eyes. His grip tightened, turning almost painful. "No, Caroline." He pulled me closer, until our faces were just inches apart. "You don't want that. You don't. You'll lose everything. Not just your emotions, but your connection to your mother. She wouldn't want that for you."

But she was already gone. Any connection now was just an illusion, an imaginary rope tethering me to the dead. To more pain.

 _And I can turn it off._

"It doesn't matter what she wanted. She's not here anymore."

"No, you have people here that will help you, Caroline. This won't help you. This will ruin you. I've done it and now I have to live with the consequences every day." His gaze narrowed. "It's one thing to lose someone you love. It's another to take someone else's from them."

"I won't hurt anyone," I said, partly numb, partly overcome with loss. "I just don't want to feel this."

But Stefan kept shaking his head. "You won't feel anything. You won't care anymore. Don't. I promised her, too. I don't want to break that promise. Caroline," his eyes burned into me. "There's no coming back from this. It will haunt you. _Forever._ "

I didn't doubt his pain. That there was truth in his words. But his suffering wasn't enough to hear clearly over mine. And I tried to fight it. Tried picturing myself going home, and slowly moving forward with my life. Working to my first smile again. A laugh. And eventually, healing.

But then I imagined that empty house. Mom's vacant room. The struggle it would be for me to keep calling it home. Because without her, it wasn't. And the choice was no longer mine to make.

I looked deep into Stefan's gaze, feeling the tears dry as I took a slow, unnecessary breath. "I'm sorry," I said, and closed my eyes.

Flipping the switch, I found, wasn't hard.

In fact, it was easier than I thought it'd be.


	3. Obligatory Acquaintances

**This goes between Caroline and Klaus's perspectives, but I don't label them; you'll be able to tell who's who. I love Klaus, so obviously I had to write something with him at some point. Please review!**

* * *

The first person was an accident; a small inconvenience I didn't mean to have happened.

I wasn't searching to kill, but no one was perfect. I guessed I'd pushed him too forcefully for his frail human body to recover from. Oops.

The second, however, was merely necessary. He was in my way, a basic invitation to be rid of. Then after him came a third, and a fourth. A fifth. I stopped trying to care around the eighth. I could do it without hesitation at the tenth.

A part of me didn't want to be a killer. It was a small voice locked behind some barrier in my mind saying this was wrong, but I didn't listen to it. I didn't face it. But for the purpose of not getting caught, I laid low. And put effort in being somewhat careful.

When Stefan finally found me three weeks later after I'd fled the hospital, I walked by him, and gave him no other acknowledgement. That did little to deter him, though and he followed after me, like a lost puppy or some mother hen trying to coax its chick back into place. He first tried to reason with me. Then guilt me. Then challenge me on why I was doing what I was, but my answer was simple enough.

Because I wanted to.

"This isn't you, Caroline." He said. But I just smirked sideways at him. Of course he would try and tell me who I was. Who I was before my mom died. I remembered it well enough and that girl . . . she was weak. And annoying. Full of far too much sunshine in a place of storms.

I shrugged as I walked, dipping down an alleyway and catching traces of car exhaust and barbecue on the air. "Yeah, well. People change."

"You are better than this," Stefan dragged on. I could tell by the desperation in his voice how hard he was trying to convince me. It would've been cute if it wasn't so irritating. "You're still Caroline. This person...you don't want to be this person."

I chuckled. _"This_ person? Who do I want to be then, Stefan?" I asked, pausing long enough to face him. "The dutiful control-freak who kept worrying about everyone else? Who arranged events and tried to play the human? I think I'll pass."

"You'll have to turn it on eventually," he said. "Whether by your own volition...or not."

I smiled sweetly at him. "I have no intention of coming back, Stefan. There's nothing back there for me. Friends? I don't need them. Stupid, little boy crushes? I _really_ don't need that. And I don't need you. For once, I'm actually happy. So just leave me alone." I resumed walking.

"You can't keep killing people," he hissed, blocking my path.

"Or what?" I snapped. "You'll kidnap me and torture me into turning it on? Fine." I took a step closer, dissolving the space until the smell of his detergent became cloying. "Go right ahead."

He ran a hand through his hair. I recognized it as something he did when he was trying to think, but I spoke before he could speak his thoughts out loud.

"You can't do anything I won't see coming," I said, speaking around a smile. I dusted off the shoulder of his jacket. "I know your tricks. I know your games. If you want to stop me, you'll have to kill me."

He caught my wrist in his. "I won't hurt you. But I won't allow innocent people to die just because it doesn't cost you anything to do it. You _will_ come back, Caroline."

I felt my smile morph into a wolfish grin. "Then you'll be the first to know." I tore my wrist from his grip and sidestepped around him.

"One more person, Caroline," he said from behind me. "One more chance to do this your way. Or any promises I've made...I'll be forced to break."

I cast a wave over my shoulder and continued walking. "Have fun picking up the pieces then."

* * *

He wasn't used to being surprised. He loathed it, in fact. It was an ancient pet peeve of his that never failed to grate on him and his patience. And only the very desperate resorted to trifle with his patience.

So when a knock came at Klaus's door late one evening, he didn't anticipate Stefan Salvatore to be the one on the receiving end.

And there came the moment of surprise, that was quickly doused by suspicion and ire. Klaus glared at him. "What do you want this time?" He drawled, voice bored. "More ex girlfriend grievances? The unfortunate friend bitten by a werewolf? It must be something rather heinous to bring you to my doorstep."

Like always, Stefan got right to the point. "Caroline."

Klaus paused on the mention. A part of him seemed to freeze inside himself. He didn't bother wondering if Stefan would come all the way out to New Orleans to update him on Caroline if it wasn't of the utmost importance. He knew, that if Stefan were here, things in Mystic Falls must have taken a dismal turn.

"What about her?"

Stefan suddenly pushed passed him and walked into Klaus's home. The action issued a burst of annoyance inside Klaus but he shoved it away as he closed the door behind him and went into the living room, decorated mostly in white furniture and light colors. It was not so much a home as it was a safe house but Klaus had ordered the furniture himself. Red plashed the most with white, and Klaus appreciated the irony.

But Stefan made no comment about the place as he whirled back the original vampire. "She turned off her humanity."

 _Well._

"She did what?" Klaus couldn't keep the subtle shock from his voice. He found his previous annoyance dissipate as he scrutinized Stefan. "What could possibly have driven her to that?"

"Her mother died."

Klaus felt his eyes narrow. "When?"

"Almost a month ago."

He pursed his lips, struggling to fully understand all the implications. Of course he _knew_ all the implications, but they became infinitely harder to incorporate when it involved Caroline. Because Caroline took no pleasure in harming others, and imaging it was . . . unsettling. "Has she killed anyone?" he ventured to ask, hoping Stefan would deny it. This was Caroline, after all, and though Klaus would never admit to it out loud, there was a piece of him that couldn't stand the thought of her becoming less like the girl he'd come to care for and more like-

"Thirteen. Maybe more."

 _Like him._

He sighed, ignoring the slight pain that coursed through his chest. "That's quite a predicament you've found yourselves in. And what, pray tell, do you expect me to do about it?"

"You love her," Stefan deadpanned, as if those words were of little consequence. That made Klaus bristle but he allowed the vampire to continue, uninterrupted. "You'd do anything for her. And frankly, nothing we've tried has proven effective. We need a different...angle."

Despite the situation, Klaus smirked, but it was cut from bitterness. "And sending me in, a man she claims to despise, is your new strategy for having her turn the switch back on? That it will be enough to provoke her?" The smirk dropped. "I think you'd best try a different route, Mate."

Stefan's jaw tightened and he stuffed his hands in his jacket pockets. "We have no other options that won't cause her physical pain and though you love her you are willing . . . to go certain lengths if that means saving her."

Klaus's anger rushed back to him. "Are you suggesting I'd hurt her? Insulting me is not the proper way to get my cooperation, Stefan."

"You'd do what it takes," he amended. "And as much as I don't like this, I know you want her to be happy."

Klaus could clearly hear the undertone of reluctance in the other vampire's voice, but he didn't press the matter. He only gave a small, nearly imperceptible shake of his head. "She has her humanity off. Of course she's elated. Not having to face the pain of her mother's death. Letting go of control. That is entirely the point."

"But she's not Caroline," said Stefan, taking a step forward. "And if this continues, she won't survive having it turned off when the time comes."

"You underestimate her," Klaus replied, tone accusing.

"I'm just trying to prevent more casualties." Stefan loosed a soundless sigh. His eyes grew hard. "This will _destroy_ her. And I think...I believe you might be the one person who can minimize the damage."

Klaus smiled, but there was no mirth in it. "You flatter me."

Stefan didn't return his humor. "Will you help her or not?"

Klaus rested against the back of a white sofa and pretended to mull it over. He would help her. He already knew that much the second Stefan said her name, but he gave it a minute and exaggerated it a bit. Just enough to make the other worry.

Finally, though, he turned to the younger Salvatore brother and smirked.

"I'll try my hand at saving her, Mate, but I wouldn't pin my hopes on it. After all, when does the villain ever prevail?"


	4. Bitter Reunion

**Please review! These chapters are shorter than what I usually write, but this was originally on my Wattpad and it always looks longer up there. Anyway, enjoy!**

I followed him into a bar; the big, cliche, farmer kind of guy, complete with the plaid shirt and clanking boots caked in dried mud. I caught the acrid smell of gasoline and knew he'd gone full rancher with the gas-guzzling truck. The fumes of testosterone and nicotine and the lingering traces of hay made me want to cough. But beyond that, I could smell _him_. Could glimpse the bandage wrapped around his palm. He'd cut himself and I didn't even try to quench the thirst. Plus, Mr. Cowboy was B positive.

A favorite of mine.

I sat across from him at the bar, listening as he gruffly asked for a beer. Typical. The balding bartender gave me a questioning look but I just shook my head and he returned to his mundane activities, using a rag to wipe off the wooden counter.

I shifted in my seat to the Cowboy.

"I need a favor," I told him. "See, I'm really hungry. I literally have the appetite of a wolf. Could you maybe dole me out a few bucks? I could really use the food."

The man's brown eyes watched me and I glanced at the small scar that clipped the corner of his left brow. He looked me up and down before his hard expression turned annoyed. "I don't think so, Honey. Why don't I give you a dollar to call your folks?"

If my humanity were on, I'd probably be offended. But fortunately for me, I had no such reservations. Instead I pulled him closer, planting my hand on the surface of the bar. "Listen, Wyatt Earp. I said I was hungry. And you're going to help me. But let's make one thing clear; if you ever call me _honey_ again, I will kill you, okay?"

And no sooner, did I take him back into the far, isolated area of the bar.

During the few minutes that followed, I nearly reconsidered my threat and wondered if I should just make good on it. It would save time. And the efforts of cleaning. Sure, I may have shut my humanity off, but I wasn't a slob. I still respected good hygiene.

But the sound of the bell tethered the doors suddenly chimed, followed by a whooshing noise that effectively interrupted me, and I knew someone was there. Annoyed, I let go of the Cowboy and turned to Stefan.

Except it wasn't Stefan.

I did a double take, eyes widening in disbelief. No, it definitely wasn't Stefan, and instead, I found myself looking into another familiar, if not equally unwelcomed, face.

Klaus Mikaelson stood a foot away from me, his back pressed against the wall, arms crossed over his chest. His eyes studied mine, his expression bored. "A bit early to be drinking, don't you think, Love?"

My eyebrows rose and my grip on Cowboy's shirt loosened. "Seriously? Alcoholic jokes?" My voice was incredulous as I stared at him. "What are you even _doing_ here?" Because I highly doubted it was mere coincidence.

Klaus gave a noncommittal shrug. "Looking for you. I hear you've gone a bit off the deep end. From good girl to, well, serial killer. That's quite an impressive bound, Caroline."

I smiled dryly at him. "Glad I have your approval. Now leave."

"Oh, it's not approval." He shook his head and took a step forward, hands in his pockets. That at-ease expression of his did not go. "There may, perhaps, be an undertone of quiet admiration and pride but this is still frowned upon. Mainly by your friends."

"You're really going to lecture me on morality?" I asked, letting Cowboy slide through my fingers and to the floor. He was still breathing. I could hear it as I stepped over him. " _You?"_ I laughed. "That's a joke."

"I'm not reprimanding you, Caroline, I'm not even suggesting what should be done. Actually, I believe Stefan's aim was to show you what you are a threat to becoming if this killing spree of yours continues."

I smirked. "I would have to kill for centuries to become like you, Klaus."

"Precisely," he agreed. "But everything has a starting point."

"Whatever." I turned to the door, wishing he would just leave already. This was getting irritating. "You've wasted your precious time. Don't you have a kid to get back to or something?" I tossed over my shoulder.

Klaus followed me out, stepping lithely through the door. The bell didn't even sound this time. "So you've heard about that, then."

I scoffed. "Ancient vampire hybrid offspring? Kind of hard to miss the memo of."

"You should know that that does not change the way I-"

"Oh, please," I said, whirling on him. "Like I _even_ care. Believe me, if I had a hypothetical list of things to care about, ranging from most important to least important, you would not even be on it."

His lips quirked up. "Consider me reassured."

I waited, for the whoosh, for the blur, but when Klaus didn't move, I swiped my hand in the universal _get lost_ gesture. "Well go. I'm sure there's something much better for you to occupy your time with."

"I can't," he said, that insufferable half-smile still playing around his lips. "I'm far too intrigued."

I gave him a dubious look. "Intrigued? By what? Is it the irony? The fact that scared-little-Caroline has finally found a backbone? Or just the fact of me telling you I couldn't forgive the bad things you've done until now. Because I can't use that excuse anymore."

"Believe me," he said, his tone becoming suddenly serious. "I find no pleasure in seeing you this way. And I never thought you afraid. On the contrary, Love, I believed your humanity only further added to your strength."

I didn't bother keeping the note of irritation out of my voice as I turned away from him, discarding his words like they were nothing. They _were_ nothing. "This is getting dull. _You_ are getting dull. Are you so archaic that you've run out of things to do you have to check up on me?"

That half smile returned, and he took a step closer, close enough until he was officially invading my personal space. "Well then. If you really are that bored, are you finally ready for me to show you how to have a good time?"

I scrutinized him, catching the gleam in his hazel eyes. "I thought your agenda was to save me. Not encourage me to be ever more reckless."

But he just shrugged again, and held his hand out for mine, palm up. "I've already told you I wasn't suggesting what you should do. But this time I'm offering. As you've pointed out, I've been around longer than most. Who would know what the best things there are to do than the person who's tried them all?"

He wiggled his fingers. "And invented a few of them along the way."

The old Caroline would have disappeared by this offer. She would have run for the hills and sought much more moral ground. But I was different. That Caroline meant pain. This Caroline meant fun.

I studied Klaus's face for a moment before I took a step forward, and wove my fingers through his.

"This had better be worth it."


	5. Reminiscence

**Review. Review. PLEASE!**

* * *

"This? This is your idea of _fun?"_

I shot Klaus a curious glance. We stood in front of an old apartment-like building, its walls slightly weathered, the bricks of the structure fading from black to a water-damaged grey. Placed behind a backdrop of night, it didn't paint the building in any higher spirits. Mildew and alcohol wove together in uncomplimentary taste.

 _"This,_ " he said, facing me, "just so happens to be a very famous saloon. You would do well to give it a little respect."

"Why, did you build it?"

He just smiled that wicked smirk of his. "Come along, then."

That's how our evening out began anyway. I'd preconditioned myself to be unimpressed, but I would've been lying to say I didn't get somewhat interested in the strong tide of people that seemed to come in after us, filling up the floor until very little of it was visible. Or enamored by the lights falling from the ceiling in a series of large and small glass orbs that illuminated the 1920-themed decor.

But that's all it was.

Entertainment.

Even as Klaus made his way to me and wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me close for a slower song, something in me felt muted. An edge now blunted. He kept a courteous distance between us which I felt was kind of ironic. And a bit outdated. But then again, so was he.

"Having fun yet?" He asked, leaning in to whisper in my ear. I could hear him just fine, even over the pound and crash of the music, but I made no move to stop him. I just shrugged. "Enough to keep my interest."

He tilted his head a bit, appraising me. "That's the problem with having no emotions. You cannot fully enjoy yourself because without them there's no ambition. No passion." He pulled me closer. "No beauty."

"This is the part where you tell me when you turned your switch, right? The sob story of the many people you killed. The pain you felt. _Etcetera, etcetera."_ Though, if I were being honest, it was hard to imagine Klaus experiencing any semblance of guilt for his actions. But I didn't mention that.

Klaus smirked, twirling me around before reclaiming me. "It's hardly a sob story, Love. And I don't need my switch turned for an excuse to be cruel. The hybrid factor does put a damper on the effectiveness of it, however."

"Then what?" I asked, as by this point, I was starting to feel misled. I didn't understand his tactics. After all, this was Klaus. He'd had years, no- _centuries-_ to learn the ways of getting what he wanted. I was no longer inhibited by my reserves, but I knew who I was dealing with. Klaus was a legend. And a legend always loved their games.

So I decided to play along.

"Are you trying to dig inside my head for why I did it?" I asked, giving him a meek smile. It would've been demur, if Klaus didn't know who he was talking to. "Trying to find some reason I'd be even remotely interested in flipping the switch back on for?"

The music changed, from sappy swan-song to some somber Jazz beat, and Klaus was swift to adjust his momentum, but he didn't let me stray far. "On the contrary, it seems perfectly clear why you have turned your humanity off. The death of your lovely mother. Especially after losing your father. All because he couldn't stand the concept of seeing the very monster he despised, glimpsed in his little girl."

I narrowed my eyes at him, realization dawning on me with an unwelcoming glow. "You're trying to bait me."

"I wonder what he'd say," Klaus mused, discarding my words. "Have you wondered yet? What your father would do if he were to see you now? Are you afraid it would only confirm everything he's ever believed about vampires? That maybe he was never wrong?"

My smile didn't waver and I gave an off-handed shrug. "Then he should have killed me. But he didn't. And that's not my fault."

"And your mother," Klaus's eyes bored into me, sparkling with the stars the lights tossed in them. "What would the Sheriff think of her own daughter, becoming a ruthless killer? I think you know she'd be the most despondent. Perhaps even distraught over the matter. Could she have forgiven you for it, do you think?"

I was getting irritated by his prying, and hoped I didn't show it. My interest was steadily crumbling to dust as he shifted alongside me, waiting for my answer. "I don't know," I finally replied. "But that's kind of the thing with being dead. It's a little hard to keep in touch."

"Mm. Pity. So how long do you think it will take for you to brave the reality of that absence and switch it back?"

I pulled away from him, quelling the urge to laugh. _"Brave?_ What's there to brave? If you think this will be some epic love story of how you save the girl from her own destruction, then it's you that clearly needs to return to reality. I have _nothing_ to come back to and you're diluting yourself if you think that the reason I'll find to do that, is _you_." I swallowed the space I'd put between us and stared into his eyes. They were much too bright for someone so dark inside. "I have no need of you," I whispered. "And you want to know the real kicker? I never did. So quit following me around like a lost puppy."

Before I knew what happened, I was pressed against the far-side wall of the saloon, my back digging into the worn bricks. Klaus loomed over me, pinning my arms at my sides and leaning in. The stars that had been in his gaze only moments before had now gone out.

His lips pressed into a terse line. "You're delusional if you think I'm that breakable, Love. Even more so if you honestly believe you'll walk away from this by choice. I'm not Stefan," he said. "I won't spare you the things he would. If it means getting you back, then so be it."

"Oh, just admit it already," I breathed, ignoring the bite of his hands. "A part of you likes me this way. There's a piece inside you that _enjoys_ having the girl you love become _a little more like you."_

His gaze broke from mine for a moment before it returned, cold and distant and forgone. "You would think so, wouldn't you? Even I can see your reasoning. I could guess that every single person who knows of me would assume I take pleasure in those who have willingly caved into selfishness rather than wage a war on one's own rectitude. But you want to know what I was? Disappointed. When Stefan came to me and told me of your quandary, I was . . . sad for you. And sad for myself as well. It took me a little while, nearly the entire trip here, to uncover what it was that made me heartfelt in this situation and you know what I found?" He was so close, I could feel the breath of his words against my cheeks. "The realization that a part of me relied on your goodness. The one strength I was weak of. And you lent it to me; you inspired me, Caroline, and I actually found myself believing, just for a moment, that maybe I wasn't incapable of being saved. That maybe I wasn't a complete monster."

My lips pulled up in a tight smile. "But then I killed and dashed that hope of yours," I deadpanned, ignoring the ache in my arms. "You know before this, you kept saying we were alike. Now you get to revel in the satisfaction of having, for once, been right."

Klaus released his hold on my arms, just enough for the bricks at my back to disappear. The close proximity was still uncomfortable, but I didn't move.

"You seem to think I fancy you because I believe we share commonalities," he said. "When the truth of the matter is, I fancy you in spite of them."

I rolled my eyes. "If only I cared."

"You will."

I raised my chin in defiance, until our foreheads were practically touching. "You know, another upside to this whole no-emotions-thing is that I'm not afraid of you anymore. Or intimidated. Thousand year old Vampire?" I looked him up and down. "Hardly see what's so impressive."

Klaus's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Don't hold back on my account."

"Then let's keep this simple, shall we?" I said, voice drenched in artificial charm. "You do what you want to do, and I'll do what I want to do, sound good?" I pushed away from the wall, forcing him out of my way and I didn't know whether or not to be surprised that he let me go.

Without looking back, I headed over to a man dressed in classical clothing, looking as if he'd just stepped through one of those dorky silent, monochromatic films. I put on the illusion of sweetness and made a beeline for him.

This one was more than eager to comply with what I wanted. Quick. Easy. I barely spilled. It was over in a handful of minutes and though I thought I left enough blood in him, he passed out. So I just dragged him to the bathroom where he'd wake up at some point.

 _If_ he woke up.

After that, it took me barely a minute to follow up on second helpings.

"You're going to make a spectacle of yourself," Klaus said, materializing beside me. I cast him a look that emulated my chagrin, and hopefully its message to _leave me alone._

"No one is looking," I said dismissively. Not that I particularly cared if they were.

"He's almost out," Klaus said, his voice utterly flat compared to the trill music. "Let him go or he'll die, Caroline."

I didn't want him to patronize me. And as if to make a point, I didn't stop.

"Caroline."

Not _yet._

"Caroline."

I caught his slight insistence, that quiet undertone of doubt and worry. Worry that I would go through with it. That I would overstep the line he'd hypocritically drawn. And before I registered what I was doing, I broke the man I held.

"Woops," I murmured, swiveling back to the ancient vampire. Klaus gazed back at me, eyes now slightly wide, as if he were looking at a stranger and not the girl he swore he loved. But then he blinked, and the look was gone.

"You do what you want, and I'll do what I want," I repeated with a smile, sidestepping around him.

Fingers suddenly shot out and latched onto my wrist, as unyielding as iron.

"I think I will," I heard him say. And before I had a chance to respond, I felt a pressure encircle my neck.

There was a deafening _crack._

And then there was nothing.


	6. Poker Face

**Next chapter! I don't have Klaus demand she turn it back on because well . . . that would make for a very short fanfiction and plus, I honestly think Klaus would want Caroline to turn it on for herself, not be forced into it via compulsion. That's just my take on it, anyway. Please review!**

* * *

I woke to a ceiling made of stone.

I blinked, allowing my senses to return, and found myself in a bed that I knew instantly was too narrow to be mine. My neck pounded against the pillow and I worked at massaging it as I sat up, groaning. The room was some kind of cellar. Or prison, given the iron door embellished in the rock. I stared at it in disbelief, feeling the memory rush back.

He'd _snapped_ my neck.

I wouldn't have found it very surprising, given his past track record, but it still left me momentarily baffled. And annoyed.

As if sensing the change in the dank air, I heard the sound of footsteps, quickly followed by a grating sound as a small window in the iron door was pulled open, revealing the face of a very bored-looking Klaus. He leaned his side against the door, scrutinizing me from the other side. "To be honest, I'm relatively grateful for that switch right now," he said. "Otherwise, I'd sense you'd be quite angry." If not for the flatness of his voice, I would think him almost amused by the situation.

I managed a glower, but there was no heat in it. No emotion. "I thought you said you'd never hurt me."

Klaus didn't even blink. "I lied. Of course, it could have easily been prevented. had you not refused to listen." Maybe it was a trick of the low light, but I thought his eyes flashed. "There are repercussions for that."

"So, what? Are you gonna torture me now? Starve me? Bind my wrists in Verlaine? Because I hate to burst your bubble, but that seems to be a reoccurring theme for me."

"Tired of it yet?"

 _"Very."_

He smirked darkly. "Don't worry, Love. I'll stand by my promise to bring you no harm. But then again, you may find that our definitions of 'harm' can vary drastically from one another."

I raised an eyebrow at him, loosing an uninterested sigh. "What're you gonna to do?"

He looked at me appreciatively, light eyes looking dark at this distance. "If I am speaking truthfully, I don't know. I'm . . . improvising."

I cocked my head, exasperated and a little surprised by his lack of imagination. "I guess you could always leave me without blood or drive a stake close to my heart," I proffered. "But it seems you prefer the strategy of talking one to death."

"It's probably best not to give your captor suggestions."

"Then there's always just forcing me to turn it back on. You can do that, right? Being a big, bad Original and all that?"

"I can," he admitted, eyes narrowing slightly. "But I won't. Not if I can help it. Forcing that in such a way . . . can make things exponentially worse."

"So you're just gonna torture me instead." I rolled my eyes and looked away from him, already bored with this topic. I took in the cellar-like room I was imprisoned in again, making note of the utter bareness of it. There was no other furniture but the cot I rested on, and I doubted sheets and straw would make for any decent weapon. "Where even _am_ I?"

Klaus was silent for a moment and I could see him studying me in my peripheral vision where I kept him in, because I didn't want to give him the satisfaction of direct eye contact. A little juvenile of me, but thanks to the switch, I didn't remember how to care.

"What would be the fun in that?"

"Looks to me like your definition of fun is also different than mine."

The glimmer of a smile drew my attention back to him as he leaned closer to the window. "Oh, I will show you fun, Caroline," he said, his accent rolling atop words like water over stones. "I will show you every gleaming moment this world has to offer, emblazoned in art, in music, in the ruins of once great-cities, now fallen empires. I will show you raised civilizations and crushed civilizations. I will show you the finest sights nature has to offer and the most exquisite innovations constructed by man. But," his gaze deepened as he looked at me, "all of that, without your humanity, will go unappreciated. You'll look at it all and see color and design, but no emotion; no wonder. And my Caroline, the one who was always so desperate to prove to me that she belonged to no one, will be the one to see it."

I eyed him warily, and felt that irritation mount. "I'm _not_ yours."

He smiled. "See? You're still in there."

* * *

Klaus heard him as he reached the top of the stairs and pulled open the door before the vampire had the opportunity to knock. Perhaps he would not even have bothered.

"Stefan," Klaus said, injecting false enthusiasm into his voice as he acknowledged the youngest Salvatore. "I was expecting you much sooner; it's hardly been a full day."

Stefan, who never was one to take kindly to his barbs, glanced over Klaus's shoulder as if expecting Caroline to be loitering in the living room. "How is she?"

"Indifferent."

He pushed his way inside, a habit of which Klaus was beginning to become very annoyed at. "Are you hurting her?" Stefan asked, as he looked around.

Klaus turned to face him and offered a grimace. "Why, of course, she's screaming in the basement. Can you not hear it?"

Stefan cast him an irritated look. "Klaus, this is serious. I need to know what you're planning."

Klaus supplied nothing more than an off-handed shrug, and, after closing the door, sauntered over to his bar and poured himself some Bourbon. "Much like I told Caroline, It's in progress. There are precautions I have to take."

"Such as avoiding the quicker route and just torturing her?"

"Precisely." Klaus held out a glass for Stefan but the Vampire just shook his head. "I'm surprised," Klaus continued, "actually quite astonished, that one of her very female friends has yet to show up in your stead. Have you bothered to include them in on this sudden, if not poorly-devised scheme of yours, or do you find yourself content with leaving them in the dark?"

The ensuing silence was answer enough. "I thought it best to leave them out of it. Especially now that you're involved."

Klaus hid a smirk behind his crystal rock glass. "That's rather offensive, but I won't hold it against you."

Stefan cast around another look. "Where _is_ Caroline anyway?"

"Oh, I wasn't joking. She really is in the basement. Just don't inform her of that."

"But . . . " and Klaus could see Stefan's hesitance, "nothing's been hurt?"

"Nothing except for my pride." Klaus raised his glass. "It'll mend, I assure you."

Stefan said nothing.

"You can see her if you like," Klaus added as an afterthought. "Though, I highly doubt it will benefit her. But it may raise false hopes. And what better way to feel human than to have those crushed?"

The younger Salvatore brother didn't look amused. "How . . . motivational of you," he said after a moment's consideration. "But I think I'll leave you to it."

Klaus assessed him, gauging his expression with careful, calculating eyes, and felt almost surprised at what he found there. "Do I detect subtle trust in your voice, Stefan?"

Stefan was already striding back to the door but paused after he'd opened it. He glanced back to the Original. "I trust that you care for her. And let's face it, you have a thousand years up your sleeve. You'll figure something out."

And with that, he was gone.

Klaus sighed as he set his glass back on the table and stared after the closed door. "That is one card I wish everyone would stop playing."


	7. Ideas

**This entire fanfiction is already written, I'm just using this as an editing method. Anyway, please review!**

* * *

"Oh great, you're back," I mumbled before Klaus appeared in my periphery, the slight tilt to his chin inexplicably irritating me. It looked confident. I refused to look at him directly and kept my gaze fastened on the ceiling.

I could feel him studying me. "Indeed. Can't have you being too dispirited now, can we?"

Rolling my eyes, I pulled myself into a sitting position and finally shot him a glare. "Just leave me alone," I hissed. "You got what you wanted. I'm not going anywhere, but that doesn't mean you can't."

"That pains me to hear," he replied, voice lilting with sarcasm.

"Oh, _please_ ," I fired back, rising to my feet "I bet I'm more capable of emotion than you, even with the switch off."

He just pursed his lips, silently appraising me.

I tossed my hands up, annoyed by his silence. "Why do you even care?" I practically spat. "I mean it's not like I was ever that high of a priority of yours."

"It's simple really," he said calmly, drawing the words out nice and slow. "I'm doing this because I don't want you to ever look into a mirror and see a monster staring back. You saw what that would have done to your father and just the thought of such a possibility made him break."

I smiled at the image of the man in my memories; could still feel the phantom binds of Vervaine-drenched ropes searing into my wrists. "He didn't break. He followed what he believed. Even death didn't keep him from turning away."

"Do you have admiration for you father?"

I scoffed and resisted the urge to roll my eyes skyward. Or where the sky out to have been, if this stupid prison weren't in the way. "For him leaving his daughter in order to do what he thought was right? No, I'd like to think of it more as bitter regret."

"How did it feel?"

"Better than this, I imagine." I scrutinized Klaus, narrowing my eyes at him, as if it were enough to sift through the ideas in his head. But we were still playing the game, and I had ideas of my own. "But you tell me how he would have felt," I said, looking pointedly at him. I took a few leisurely steps forward. "How does it feel to leave your daughter? To abandon her? To know you won't be there to protect her against your enemies? Against _herself?_ "

Klaus's stance wavered, just slightly, I barely caught it, and the action revealed a tiny, almost invisible chink in that stoic armor he always wore. I found it. And it was like rubbing salt in a wound.

"Picture her helpless," I went on as I neared the small window. "Her _begging_ you to never leave her, because she needs you. But you turn away. You reject who she is and call her a monster. You reject her as your daughter."

It didn't grant me the satisfying reaction I'd hoped it would. The chink I'd glimpsed a moment before repaired itself and Klaus only smiled at me. "You forget, Love, I've perfected the arts of persuasion. Your words are empty to me," he turned away. "I really wish I didn't have to do this, but you are being...a bit stubborn. So," he looked back."Since I can't just demand the switch turned, I will have to be a bit more _avant-guarde_ in our approach."

My brows raised. "What?"

"Unorthodox in my attempts," he clarified with a mischievous smirk. "So instead of targeting the physical sensations, we'll be starting with the emotional traumas you've experienced. Which is why I want you to remember what it was like when you killed that first man."

At his words, I felt my mind work before I realized it was, digging for the memory, rising unbidden. Dark eyes. The sticky, wet feeling caking my hands.

"I want you to remember how it felt to know of your strength and your ability," Klaus continued, voice as soft as a lullaby. "And I want you to think of that moment, for that single, agonizing breath, when you held his life in your hands, and decided to let it go."

It was like telling a person not to think of pink elephants. You just did and I remembered it with perfect clarity. The distant emotion shouting beyond the wall I'd erected, like watching it play out on someone else's face. The moment the light left those dark eyes.

"Yeah, like _that_ makes me want to come back," I quipped. "Great tactic, Sherlock."

Klaus leaned against the opposing wall, looking intently at me. The one recalling the memories- that had nothing to do with him, I knew. That was all me. He was just giving me reminders, the same ones that, once upon a time, had woken me from my bed. Screaming.

"When your father died," Klaus whispered. "That had to have been difficult to bear. But what was worse, I wonder. Torturing you or dying to prevent becoming like you?"

I ground my teeth, switching my thoughts to . . . to what? There was nothing that made me feel. And I had to give myself my own reminder that I didn't want to.

He sighed with faux sadness. "Trust I'm being honest when I say I don't understand how your father could have done the things he did, but I expect it was out of the very reason that has me keeping you here now. He became the monster so you wouldn't have to. He became the wolf. But after all this, the blood trailing you in your wake, it seems his efforts have been done in vain. "

"You're full of it if you think you can actually pull the guilt card on me," I said, closing in on the window now.

But Klaus acted as if he hadn't heard me. "The first man you killed, the very first, that hurt you, Caroline. Do you want to know why? Because it ripped a piece of your humanity away and the more you kill, the more you lose. There's always a price."

"I'm really not looking for a lesson on ethics by the living contradiction himself. And contrary to what you might think, this honestly doesn't seem to be doing much good." In fact, I was adamant for it to fail.

But this was Klaus. And Klaus didn't have a reputation for giving up.

"And your mother," Klaus drawled, doing that infuriating head-cock thing. "Shame." There seemed to be almost genuine sympathy in his eyes. "You were forced to watch her die, were you not? To see her strength lessen with each passing day. Knowing that there was nothing you could have done. Or maybe there was, and you just didn't look hard enough."

I smirked, my nails digging into my palms as I smiled at him. "Doesn't matter much now, does it?"

"Then why keep the switch off?"

I leaned forward, his face so close to mine, I could smell the vague traces of Bourbon on his breath. "Because I. Don't. Care. You're the one who does. The thousand year old legend, made vulnerable by eighteen year old teen drama. That's just sad." I tapped his nose with my index finger. "You won't hurt me. You won't do anything. So really, . . . it's _you_ who's weak. The nefarious Niklaus Mikaelson. Beaten by a Barbie."

His expression hardened, until I was staring into stone. "You're right," he said, his breath disrupting a strand of my hair. He made no move to back up. "You are my weakness. At least, you are one of the limited few among them. Which makes me all the more determined to save you."

"Ugh. I think I'd rather you just save me the pain of listening to this and kill me now."

Finally he leaned back, his gaze snapping off from mine. "I actually want to show you something since this is proving to be quite ineffective."

"And what's that?" I challenged. "Another saloon?"

Klaus cast a glance upward and offered a slight shrug. "We'll call it therapy," he said, just as he flipped something on the other end and the door gave a groan. He pulled it open and stood before me, dark jacket blending with the shadow until he looked almost corporal.

"One of the most terrifying moments in a vampire's life is the moment they die before they wake up as one," he said. "So I'm going to recreate the memory for you."

I flashed back to my night in the hospital, what it felt like to suffocate, and against my volition, my throat tightened.

"Recreate how?"

"It involves some chains and a large body of water."

I waited for the punchline. The look to tell me he was kidding.

This time though, Klaus didn't smile.


	8. Breathless

"I can't believe this," I said, trying without success to pull out of Klaus's grip as he lassoed my hands together, the chained metal biting into my wrists. Evening was fast-approaching, painting the night sky in a bruised purple. Crisp air nipped at my arms and tugged playfully at my hair, much too lively and carefree for the strained atmosphere. Off to my side and down below the old bridge I stood on, glistened a river, undulated waves capped in silver lining. In the dying sun, the currents looked like drifting shadows, patient and uninviting.

Klaus pulled the chains tighter, effectively yanking my body closer to his."You best start believing in a hurry, then. I'm not particularly fond of this idea either, but in such a dire situation, I'm forced to expand my methods."

"By drowning me." It wasn't a question.

"It's your choice in that matter. I don't wish to cause you pain, Caroline," he said, tone serious. He glanced at me once before winding the chain around my back and looping a lock between the two, one of the big kinds you'd only find on a storage locker. I heard it click.

"I just want you back to your flamboyant and over-achieving self and since that won't return with nothing but time, I reason we'd better get a jump on things now."

I wondered if that pun was intended, but didn't bother to ask as my gaze returned to the water. I tried to imagine being buried far beneath it, and wondered how Stefan must have felt as he drowned. Again. And again.

And again.

"Are you ready?" Klaus asked me.

A scoff escaped my lips. "Sure, why wouldn't I be? 'Hey, Caroline, do you have a plot reserved already? Well, no need. Here's a watery grave prepared for you instead.'"

He narrowed his eyes, weighing what he saw there on a very sensitive scale. "Are you afraid, Love?"

Against my better judgement, I thought about that night in the hospital; that feeling of trying to breathe around a mouthful of pillow. When I started thinking of death just moments before it came.

I smiled at him; I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of anything less. No, I wanted to revel in whatever victory I could get.

So without warning, and without thought, I bent my knees and launched myself over the bridge.

The water rushed up to greet me in a blast of ice and needling handshakes. It struck my skin in a million tiny slaps that cut across my body as the sun faded and the murky water grew thicker and thicker the farther I drifted. I held in my reserve of air, looking up to see back to the surface. Tiny fragments of light played above the top, as if the water itself were mocking me. Laughing at me. But they quickly grew smaller and smaller, until they blinked out of existence one by one and I was left in the dark.

The toe of my shoes skimmed something solid and I felt silt shift beneath my feet as the drifting ceased. I released a few air bubbles and refused to watch as they skipped up to the surface. Instead, I turned my focus to pulling on the chains, straining against the finality of them as I tried not to think of air or breathing.

Even if I died, it wouldn't matter. It wasn't permanent. I'd breathe in water and it'd be done. Seconds. It would just take seconds.

 _Unless Klaus decides to leave me here indefinitely._

That thought drew me up short.

I felt it then. It was just a twinge; a tiny, imperceptible moment of uncertainty, and I remembered what it was like to be afraid. As my body started to crave breath, I pushed the feeling of fear away, into some abyss in my mind where I kept everything else. I wouldn't cave. I wouldn't. I _wouldn't._

More air bubbled from my lips and I vainly wished to reclaim them, for just one more breath as the ache grew, morphing into an undeniable pain that blossomed across my chest.

 _Breathe!_ My mind screamed at me. _Breathe!_ My instincts raged. I shook my head and looked back to the surface I could no longer see through the mud cloaking my vision.

My lungs started to feel as if they were steadily being crushed, crippling in like soda cans, and I tried not to open my mouth. Tried to tell myself that there would be no air. But it was like my body didn't believe that and was simply awaiting some phantom breath.

It didn't expect the water that rushed in when I finally opened my mouth.

It didn't expect that jolt of shock, worse than the cold, when it realized there was just water, and slim hope for survival.

That spark happened again, as I choked and tried to break the chains that refused to budge. There was just the water, and with it, an undeniable glimmer of fear, looming beneath the growing threat of death.

My vision dimmed and I flashed back to the night I turned, on how it felt to die.

I was only marginally surprised to find that, whether human or vampire, it still felt the same.

* * *

He gave her five minutes. Five minutes to feel what it was like before he allowed himself to dive in after, swimming down to where the current and the weight of chains must have deposited her.

He saw her blonde hair before anything else, the weight of her bindings just enough to keep her alone down. He pulled on the chains, raising her to the surface and to the rocky shore.

Perhaps it had been a rash choice, he thought, as he lifted her up, unconscious, and carried her back up to the bridge. Maybe she was right, and he should stop this.

But he couldn't stop. Or more accurately, he wouldn't, not if it meant saving her. The Caroline he knew wouldn't have hurt a soul without paying the price of grief for it. And she'd pay it again after this, at a much larger cost. But he wouldn't let her add to her debt. If this was what would save her, he would do it.

He laid her down on the wooden planks with ironically gentle hands, given the circumstances, and tried to avoid looking into her face. He idly tucked a wayward strand of hair behind her ear as he released an inaudible sigh. "I'm sorry," he whispered, and then waited for her to wake up.

It took longer than he expected, nearly an hour. And he watched the realization play out on her face, as she recalled the water, the drowning. The dying.

She gave him a very un-Caroline look. "Well, that was fun."

"Did you feel anything?" Klaus asked. But he knew she did. Anyone would, whether she admitted it to him-

"Nope."

-or not.

"Lying will not quicken the process," he said, gazing down at her. "Either you felt something or I expand the time. What shall it be?"

"I felt annoyance, does that count?"

"At the present moment, I'm annoyed, so no, it doesn't."

She tugged against the restraints but it was of little good. After all, he wasn't a novice to chain-wrapping.

"There are four very powerful, very human emotions, Caroline," he said, raising his fingers as if he were teaching a child. "Happiness, hatred, and the two most prominent; love, and that nagging sensation known as fear."

"Thank you for that psychology tip."

He ignored her retort and kept going. "To have any desire, whether seen or not, to turn your humanity back on, one of these emotions has to be triggered. Do you want to know which of these seems the most prevalent?"

"Not particularly."

"Well, too bad, I'm telling you anyway. It's fear, based on affection. The fear of losing a loved one. The fear of losing one's own life. It makes your entire being crave battle. So when faced with the reality of overpowering helplessness, you react before you realize and," he snapped his fingers. "Your humanity has returned, bringing with it a burden of emotion, laden with guilt and self-loathing. So I'll ask you one more time, Caroline. What was it you felt?"

She bent her head forward, craning as close as her bindings would allow, and narrowed her eyes at him. In a low voice, she whispered, "Nothing."

"Fine, then," he said, ignoring the dull pain that coursed through him at her refusal to cooperate. "We'll make this time six minutes. Oh, and don't try counting," he added, just to ensure she would. "It makes it far worse."

And before Caroline could object, he pushed her off the bridge.


	9. Gone

I came to with a jolt. It was darker than it was what felt like only moments ago and as my eyes adjusted, I became aware of Klaus hovering over me, moonlight pooling in his eyes.

I scowled.

"Does that satisfy you?" I asked him, ignoring the thickness of my voice. "Does it prove that this isn't working yet?"

If discouraged, Klaus didn't show it. In fact, he seemed maddeningly at ease. "I didn't expect it to. Not this quickly. Besides, if your switch really is that weak and your tolerance that poor, I'm surprised you didn't turn it off sooner."

I narrowed my eyes at him, particularly at the implication in his words. "Does this mean we aren't finished?"

"Far from it. I swore I would do everything in my power to help you, Caroline. And I meant every word."

"And who did you make that little oath to?"

"Myself."

I bit my bottom lip. If I could get out of these chains, I would attack him. I had no doubt. Push _him_ into the river, though he was just as wet as me. Maybe it would be easier . . .

"Well then, break it," I deadpanned, looking away from him. Or as much as I could, given his proximity. "You're not helping. _This_ certainly isn't helping. You seem to continuously disregard the clear fact that I have _no desire to feel,_ Klaus. And then I wonder why you are so anxious for me to. Is it because you think I'll have some great epiphany and realize I love you? Is that the pitiful wish of Niklaus Mikaelson?"

He cocked his head to the side in that patronizing way of his, leaning back to study me. Or to silently gloat. "Your petty slander does not faze me, Love. I've given my reason. There's little need to keep revisiting it. Now, how long do you want to be this time?"

I thought about the water flooding in. The gasping that came after the first breath. The knowledge of realizing which one was my last before the world disintegrated.

I had been afraid. And that feeling, just that small fragment of want, was enough to overpower me. I needed to be stronger than that.

"I'll let you decide," I said sweetly. "Because you will anyway. You probably already have."

"That's true," Klaus replied. "Ten minutes, twenty minutes. An hour. Two. Perhaps a day. Right now, you know I'll save you after a small amount of time has passed. But what would your reaction be if you knew that wasn't coming?"

I stared at him, feeling the surprise register on my face. Of course, I knew this was a possibility, but I didn't exactly take much pleasure in being right this time. "You'd seriously do that?"

"Do I look amused to you?"

My scowl deepened. "You know, you should really look up the definition of love in the dictionary. Because I'm pretty sure you're doing it wrong."

"I'm trying," I stilled at the sudden vehemence in his voice. His hands materialized at the sides of my head, pressing into the pavement as his face loomed overhead, blocking out the moon. His expression was completely unmasked and I saw what could only be described as pain replace it. For a second I caught that same glimmer of fear register in his eyes.

"I'm trying to save you from yourself. The girl who used to have a heart becoming this stranger she will call nothing less than a monster. This girl that, if not stopped, will continue down a path of destruction until it's consumed her entirety. And when that day finally comes, when she is forced to turn her humanity back on, she will not survive the pain and the guilt and will do whatever it takes to rid herself of it."

He was so close, he might as well have been shouting the words.

"So yes, Caroline, this may not be ones' ideal way to display affection, but don't delude yourself into believing I'm enjoying it. I'm doing only what I think is best, hoping you'll reclaim your humanity with each and every time I allow you to fall into that water, and force myself to turn away. But I've had centuries of pain so don't be naive enough to underestimate _my_ tolerance of it."

I paused, feeling something blossom somewhere inside me, but then I slammed it into a corner, and waited for it to shrivel and disappear from existence.

When it did, I gave him a neutral look. "Then you're weaker than I thought."

Klaus retreated, pulling away from me. The moon reappeared again, but its glow seemed dimmer, as if the silver light were shying away from Klaus's outburst. "Would you care to test that theory? This time, I won't reveal to you the duration. Maybe it'll be only minutes. Perhaps hours."

He slipped his hands around the chains and lifted me into the air.

I was able to manage two breaths before the ground disappeared, and was once again replaced with water.

* * *

He couldn't keep doing this. It was like running him through with a dagger, slowly, penetrating ever fiber of himself that wasn't completely unsalvageable. There had to be another way and though he knew Caroline still felt _something_ , was feeling it now even, an ember simply wasn't enough to spark the whole of the world.

So what _would_ be?

Klaus considered including Stefan in this arrangement of his, but he feared it would be counterproductive to his intentions. In addition, Klaus didn't need more enemies at the moment. No. He just knew he was running out of options and that Caroline had been correct about one thing.

This was indeed pitiful for a man of a thousand years' worth of experience.

He scolded the water, then remembered Caroline and his eyes skirted away., resting on the shoreline instead. Maybe the answer wasn't as complicated as he was making it out to be. Maybe it was simple reasoning of what defined Caroline and using that weakness, that very human part, against her.

He slung his arms over the rail and contemplated, reminiscing over the past and the Caroline he knew, a girl generous with her smiles and rich in opinion.

Klaus knew she hated injustice. Anything that went against what felt right, such as the death of a loved one. The ruination of a family. A simple broken heart. Perhaps that's the very reason she flipped the switch, because after experiencing first hand, a life plentiful of injustice,mshe no longer saw a purpose in fighting what she couldn't control.

And who was a Caroline without her control?

Klaus growled internally, warring with himself as he tried to piece together exactly what was making this so . . .difficult.

But no matter how much he thought of it, he didn't know.

He leaned back and grasped the railing tightly, channeling all his frustration into his grip until the metal rod twisted and buckled. He felt the impressions of his fingers there, permanently marring the rail.

Klaus looked back into the water then and, with little resolve to his predicament, dove in.

She didn't lose consciousness this time. When he pulled her out, she spewed water and coughed, and for a second, he caught a flash of uncertainty cross her features. Something that resembled very human hesitation.

"I thought you said you'd be hours," she hissed, beads of water rolling down her face and dripping from her nose. "Do you have a conscience after all?"

He didn't rise to the bait. "Actually if you recall, I said it could be anywhere between minutes to hours," he corrected her, as he grabbed one of the chains and dragged her forward until he could manage to thread one hand beneath her legs and the other behind her back. He stared into her eyes, feeling somewhat relaxed that at least she was there.

His voice turned serious. "Did you feel that spark of hope when you hit the surface? When you drew in that first beautiful breath? That's a little thing called relief."

"If that's what you think I feel, put me back."

"Do not tempt me."

"That's kind of the point."

He hefted her higher and began walking back to the bridge. This process was slowly taking its toll on him rather than its intended objective. Making an effort not to lose his patience, he tried again. "I want you to focus on what it felt like when you realized you were headed to the surface. That weight being lifted, if just for a moment."

"I really can't focus when your face is this close."

He smiled. "Distracting to you, is it, Love?"

"No, more like intrusive when it comes to my personal bubble."

Klaus's smile fell into a grimace. "Pardon my close proximity then," he said. "It'll be rectified in a moment."

She didn't respond as they returned to the bridge and he set her down, readying to drop her in once more.

Klaus sighed somewhat dejectedly. "This is becoming rather dull," he said, as he stared down into the river, the waters growing restless with the growing wind. "Best to not waste what little reserve of interest I still maintain in this."

And he dropped her in again.

More time elapsed. It was the longest he had kept her there and he didn't follow his own advice, counting the minutes as they went by. The tactic always made it feel like hours rather than minutes. Maybe it had been hours, but he didn't dive in until he felt a sufficient amount of time had passed.

If it didn't work now though, he doubted it ever would. And that was about as much resolve as he scoured when he went in after her.

But when Klaus swam to the bottom of the murky inlet, he didn't resurface with Caroline.

He found no traces of her except a large lock and the long chain, coiled at the bottom of the river.


End file.
